Shed Shelving

What shed shelving works in a plastic shed?

In a timber building you'd screw a batten to the wall and hang shelf brackets off it. Plastic is different. The walls are thin resin or polycarbonate panels, and a screw through one either cracks it or pulls straight out under load. So plastic shed shelves come in three kinds, and the right one helps you maximise every wall:

• Frame-fixed shelf kits. Made by the maker to bolt onto the aluminium or steel frame, like the Palram Canopia Yukon shelving on this page. They're the neatest fit and take no floor space.
• Shelving included in the kit. Every Keter Factor comes with two shelves and brackets that fit its moulded wall panels.
• A freestanding shelving unit. A boltless metal or plastic shelving unit that stands on the floor, needs no fixings and moves with you. It's the most storage for the money, but only if it fits under the roof (see the eaves table below).

Whichever you pick, good storage gets everything you use weekly at waist to eye height, the heavy kit low and the floor clear for the mower and bikes.

Shed shelving compared

Here's everything in this range side by side. Prices change daily and the grid above always shows Shedstore's live price, so they're in bands here.

The 4 pack usually works out cheaper per shelf than four single packs, so if you know you want a full wall of shelves, start there. The single shelf suits a workbench top or a spot above the door.

The shed shelving in this range

Palram Canopia Yukon Shed Shelving (single shelf)

One 3ft x 1ft polycarbonate shelf, 1040mm wide and 347mm deep, with aluminium profiles along the front and back edges to stop it sagging. Two galvanised steel brackets carry it, and the mounting hardware bolts them to the Yukon's aluminium frame, so you don't drill the wall panels at all. It holds 20kg spread evenly, which is a row of paint tins, a toolbox and a few boxes of screws. The pack weighs 1.6kg and fits every Yukon size.

Palram Canopia Yukon Shed Shelves 4 Pack

The same shelf four times over, with eight galvanised brackets, enough to fit out a whole wall of a Yukon shed. Each shelf takes 20kg evenly spread, so the set carries about 80kg of tools and equipment off the floor. Space them to suit your kit: tall items like strimmer heads and sprayers on the lower shelves, small boxes higher up. Plan the layout before you fix the first bracket. The pack weighs 6.4kg.

Palram Canopia Vertical Bicycle Hanger

Shed wall storage for the bulkiest thing most of us own. You hang the bike by its front wheel on a rubber coated hook and the back wheel rests against the wall, so it stands on end and takes a fraction of the floor. It's black powder coated steel, holds bikes up to 25kg and suits wheels from 14 to 29 inches, which covers most mountain and hybrid bikes. Screws and plugs are in the pack. Palram designed it for its own range; fix it into a solid part of the frame, not the bare panel. It's one hanger per bike.

Will a shelving unit fit in your shed? Check the eaves height

This is where most garage shelving goes wrong. The standard 5 tier, heavy duty galvanised steel shelving unit is 1800mm tall, 900 to 1200mm wide and 300 to 600mm deep, often rated 200kg UDL per shelf. That's fine in a garage, but under an apex roof the side walls only rise to the eaves, and the roof slopes in from there. A shelving unit that's taller than the eaves won't stand against the long walls.

Here are the eaves and ridge heights of the plastic sheds on this site, from the makers' specs. They're outside measurements, and the floor and frame take a few centimetres off inside, so leave a gap.

In short: only the Keter Stronghold and Newton Plus leave clear room for an 1800mm steel shelving unit along a side wall. In a Palram Canopia Skylight or Rubicon, pick a 1500mm, 4 tier unit for the side walls, or stand the tall one against the back gable wall near the middle, where the roof is highest. In the Yukon, the frame-fixed shelf kits are the better buy. The Keter Factor comes with two shelves and has a 2.43m ridge on the 8x6, 8x8 and 8x11 sizes.

Depth matters too. A Palram Canopia Skylight 6x3 is only about 85cm deep inside, so a 450mm deep unit would leave less than 40cm to stand in. Use a 300mm deep unit in narrow sheds and keep the deeper ones for sheds over 1.6m deep, like the Keter Factor 8x6.

How to choose shed shelving

1. Measure the walls you can use. Width between the door and the corner, the eaves, and the depth inside. Mark where the windows and vents are.
2. Decide between fixed and freestanding. Frame-fixed shelves keep the floor clear. A boltless unit holds more weight and needs few tools, but takes floor space.
3. Check the load rating. Shop listings quote UDL, the uniformly distributed load: what a shelf holds when the weight is spread across it. The Yukon shelf is 20kg. Boltless steel units are often rated 150 to 200kg per shelf, and some heavy duty racking goes higher. Heavy items in one spot count for more than their weight.
4. Pick a durable material. Plastic buildings can run with condensation in winter. Polycarbonate, plastic and galvanised steel shelving shrug it off. Bare chipboard or MDF shelves, common on cheap units, swell if they get wet.
5. Allow for the door. Keep the shelves clear of the door swing and leave a 60cm walkway to the back.
6. Think about bikes and long tools. These go on the wall, not the shelves, so plan a space for a hanger or hooks before the shelving goes in.

Freestanding shelving units vs frame-fixed shelves

Both have their place, and many sheds end up with one of each.

• Freestanding boltless shelving. Slot-together steel uprights and shelves, no bolts needed and quick assembly with a rubber mallet. It's adjustable, so you can move a shelf up or down later. It's heavy duty and cheap per shelf, but it needs a level floor. On a floor that flexes, it rocks.
• Wire and plastic shelving units. Lighter, and plastic is rust-proof, good for pots and seed trays, but they carry less weight. Chrome wire shelving needs a dry spot.
• Frame-fixed shelf kits. Made for one range, so they fit exactly and leave the floor free. They carry less per shelf and only fit their own model.
• Corner units. A corner shelving unit uses the space behind the door that's often wasted, and an adjustable one copes with a sloping ceiling.

Whatever unit you choose, tie a tall one back so it can't tip. Fix the strap to the frame, not the wall panel, and never climb the shelves to reach the top.

Shed wall storage: getting kit off the floor

Shelves hold boxes and tins. Everything long, awkward or wheeled is better on the wall:

• Bikes. A vertical hanger stands a bike on its back wheel. An adult bike on end is roughly as tall as a person, so hang it at the gable end where the roof is highest. Several bikes and nothing else? Our plastic bike sheds have floor stands and the right door widths.
• Rakes, spades and brooms. A tool rack or a row of hooks keeps them upright and stops them falling against the door.
• Hoses and extension leads. A hose reel or a single hook on the frame.
• Small parts. Clear tubs on the shelves, labelled on the front, so you can see what's in them.

Light makes a well-organised space much easier to use on a winter evening. Our solar shed lighting kits need no mains power.

Plastic sheds that come with shelves

If you haven't bought one yet, some save you buying shelving at all:

• Keter Factor (6x6, 8x6, 8x8 and 8x11) includes two shelves with brackets, plus vents to cut condensation. See them on our Keter Factor sheds page.
• Palram Canopia Yukon has the matching shelf kits on this page, made for its aluminium frame.
• Palram Canopia Skylight has a 3ft x 1ft shelf kit sold separately by Palram.
• Keter Newton Plus and Stronghold have the tallest eaves here, so a full-height freestanding unit fits. Compare them on Keter Newton Plus sheds and Keter Stronghold sheds.

One to watch: the Shire Tuscany Evo 120 is pictured with shelves, but they aren't included.

A simple layout to organise your shed

Use the full height in three zones:

• Floor: the mower, wheelbarrow, compost bags and anything over about 10kg. Keep a clear walkway down the middle.
• Waist to eye height: the shelves you reach every week, such as hand tools, gloves, string, plant food and the drill.
• High shelves and the ridge: light, seasonal storage like Christmas lights, spare pots and the paddling pool.

Keep the heaviest items on the bottom shelf, so a unit stays stable and nothing falls on your head. Bulky cushions and garden furniture covers are better in a sealed box, where damp can't reach them. Our waterproof garden storage boxes stand outdoors too, which frees more space inside.

Storing garden chemicals and fuel safely

Shelving makes it easy to keep hazards out of reach. Weedkillers, slug pellets and other pesticides should stay in their original, closed containers on a high shelf away from children and pets. The HSE's pesticides pages cover the rules for home garden products. Keep petrol for the mower in a proper fuel can, on the floor, away from anything that sparks. Good locks matter more once it's full, and our shed security page has alarms and padlocks.

Fitting the Yukon shelves

Each Yukon shelf kit fixes to the aluminium frame with the supplied hardware, so the only tool you'll need is a screwdriver or spanner. Fit the brackets level, spread the load across the full width of the shelf and put heavier things near the brackets. Check the fixings every so often and tighten any that work loose. Palram's fitting guides and the full accessories range are on Canopia by Palram, and Keter's specs are on Keter UK.

Shed shelving FAQs

Can you put shelves in a plastic shed?

Yes. Use a shelf kit that fixes to the frame, the shelving that comes with models like the Keter Factor, or a freestanding shelving unit. Don't screw brackets straight into the plastic panels.

Can you screw into a plastic shed wall?

Into the frame, yes. Into a bare resin or polycarbonate panel, it isn't worth it: the panel can crack and won't hold much weight. Hang things from the frame or use a freestanding unit.

How tall a shelving unit will fit?

Measure the eaves height and take off a few centimetres. Most plastic sheds here have eaves of 1.75 to 1.89m, so a 1500mm unit fits almost all of them and an 1800mm unit only fits along the side walls of the Keter Stronghold and Newton Plus.

Do the Yukon shelves fit other Palram Canopia sheds?

They're made for the Yukon range and fix to its aluminium frame. Other Palram Canopia sheds have their own shelf kits.

How much weight can shed shelving hold?

The Yukon shelf holds 20kg evenly distributed. Steel boltless shelving is often rated 150 to 200kg UDL per shelf, and some heavy duty racking more. Always spread the weight and keep heavy items low.

Will metal shelving rust?

Galvanised or powder coated metal shelving resists rust in damp air. Plain painted steel and chipboard shelves suffer most from condensation, so keep the vents open and wet tools off the shelving.

Is shelving worth it in a small shed?

Small ones need it most, because there's no floor to spare. A single shelf, a few hooks and a bike hanger can double the usable space. See our small plastic sheds for sizes, or go bigger with large plastic sheds.